BEYONCE and Jay-Z - aka The Carters - are locked in a very tight race for the US Number 1 spot with their new album.

The couple dropped their new record Everything Is Love on Saturday night last week, and are reported to be tracking to about 70,000 sales in the chart week.

5 Seconds of Summer’s new album YoungBlood, which has a near two-day advantage having come out on Friday (the first day of the tracking week), is marginally ahead on forecasted sales: sitting around 90,000.

But when streaming is factored in, things are very different: The Carters pull out in front to around 120,000 units, according to Idolator. 5 Seconds of Summer have a less pronounced boost, rising to around 113-118,000 overall.

If these projections are correct, it would mean 5SOS score the week’s biggest-selling album - but Beyonce and Jay-Z would nab the Billboard 200 Number 1 spot thanks to an exceptional performance on streaming platforms.